


Chains

by Colamiilk



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Bipolar Disorder, But god the concept makes me laugh, Egomania, Forced Restraints, I didn't write any aftermath here, I'm not talking swear words here, I'm talking actual insults that would make your mother cry, M/M, Minor Violence, Vulgar Language, rip dude on the street
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 06:36:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21266663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colamiilk/pseuds/Colamiilk
Summary: There was something about seeing Justin so sparkling that made him sick. He hated having to follow the other while he smiled so brightly, while he sang words of praise and trust for Lord Death. He hated seeing the other’s hands knotted up in prayer so often---Goretober! Day 31: True Self





	Chains

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was supposed to be a cute short thing about Giriko's chains however I've been in a Place, dealing with Things and having Issues. So, here is an incredibly detailed description of how bipolar disorder can affect personality + some Giriko headcanons. (also lmk if any of you would be interested in a break down of how egomania effects world perception bc i'm not set on writing it but if anyone's interested I will)  
Enjoy

Living in Death City came with plenty of things Giriko didn’t like. In fact the things he disliked outweighed the things he liked by so much that he was getting more than just impatient waiting for this crisis to end already so Justin and him could go the hell back to Loew. He hated it here. He hated the people, the children everywhere, he hated the way everyone looked at him like he was the scum of the earth. But most of all he hated _ this _.

There was something about seeing Justin so sparkling that made him sick. He hated having to follow the other while he smiled so brightly, while he sang words of praise and trust for Lord Death. He hated seeing the other’s hands knotted up in prayer so often. He hated it because he knew how _ fake _it was. 

He knew Justin. He knew the brat far too well and knew how hollow all of this was to him. He knew that this was some kind of act, but he didn’t know why the kid kept it up. And that pissed him off. More than that actually. It made him so unbelievably angry that it was only expected that the 3rd sunny warm day he had to follow Justin around and listen to him go on to whoever the hell they had to for their next mission, he grabbed the brat right off the road and chucked him into an alley. 

“What the _ fuck _ happened to you?” Giriko spit the harsh question with such venom it was surprising Justin didn’t even acknowledge it at first. It was clear as to why though, brat was still trying to figure out what had happened, he was looking around, processing where that sudden change left him with big round eyes. It’d be cute if Giriko wasn’t so pissed off. It’d be cute if it weren’t for the fact that he was fucking _ sick _of seeing Justin look so unthreatening, even when it was as unintentional as this. 

Finally Justin seemed to put together what had happened, and turned around to see Giriko blocking his exit, either hand firmly on the adjacent walls of the tiny alley. The glare that formed on the scythe’s face was horribly ugly and filled with such a haughty distaste that Giriko could only smile. Thank fucking christ. If it weren’t for the fact he knew Justin would bite his lips clean off he’d kiss the little shit in relief. That holy act had been hammering into him something awful.

“What are you doing?” Justin’s mouth didn’t move as he said it… and his voice sounded wrong. Giriko’s brow knotted up in confusion, how had he managed to do that? What was happening here? Giriko got his answer, and got to feel stupid as hell, when whoever the hell they had been walking with grabbed onto him and tried to yank him away. Tried to free Justin from this situation so he could be fucking sparkling and perfect again. Giriko’s blood boiled just at the thought of someone forcing his brat back into that. 

“This isn’t your fucking business!” He yelled it loud enough that he could feel his chest burn and his lungs ache. The grip on his shoulder loosened and the man tried to step back, Giriko didn’t give him the chance. He spun the elbow from his other arm over and around, slamming it into the bastard’s face and feeling their jaw displace under the impact. The guy fell like a rock, fast enough that some of the blood from his face took longer to hit the ground than he did. Justin looked more than horrified, his eyes widened watching the glittering red splatter onto the floor. 

The scythe tried to break past Giriko in a flurry, tried to ignore the enchanter entirely for the sake of some random academy member that meant literally nothing. Giriko threw his leg up and kicked Justin back, forcing the kid to stumble back coughing onto the cold concrete. Justin hit with a deafening sound, his earbuds flying out and letting Giriko hear the buzzing lyrics, some murmured language he couldn’t understand. He couldn’t understand it but he could hear the unsettling tone of it all, it matched the horrific look on Justin’s face perfectly. Red started to dye a patch of Justin starlight blonde.

“What do you think you’re doing Giriko? Do you really think you’re going to get what you want here?” Black tar dripping words, reminpranding, said with a sense of authority Justin had never used over him before. Giriko felt something akin to fear pool in his stomach before his anger came back horribly. It was fucking _ Justin _, as scary as he could sound it was always hollow, he was far too committed to making this whole stupid arrangement to work to actually use any of the power he had over Giriko. There was too much fatality there. Too much to risk. The fact that he had made Justin angry enough to reference it at all though… 

Giriko threw his arm out the side, releasing ribbons of his chains and letting them fall into his hand in a heavy set of loops. Justin’s pupils shrunk into tiny pin pricks, he looked scared, heartbroken, _ betrayed _, Giriko had to force himself to ignore it. He wasn’t going to let the brat puppy dog eye his way out of this. Justin didn’t stay like that very long anyway, he quickly moved to get up, to get ready to fight. Giriko wasn’t going to let that happen either. There wasn’t going to be a fight here. Justin was going to lose before there was even a chance for that. 

Throwing his chains up into the air he let them come down around Justin’s lithe form. Not wasting a single second he ran them in a rapid spin, making them shrink around the brat and tie him up tight enough that all the air rushed out of his little lungs. Justin’s eyes turned wet. It was obvious that he didn’t know how to react, it was obvious that Giriko had forced him so far out of his element that he had forgotten all about how he supposed to act. He looked like a stupid kid trying feebly to get out of his restraints, wiggling and kicking his legs against the pavement as if he could somehow slip out with enough force. It obviously wasn’t working. Justin figured that out pretty quickly, but instead of sitting still like he should’ve, he decided to start trying to scooch away. Giriko could only sigh at the pathetic display. 

“No, come _ here _little scythe.” Giriko wrapped the part of his chain that connected them around his foot with a quick twist of his ankle and tugged it sharply with the word ‘here’, forcing Justin to be yanked closer to him. With the brat was sitting on the floor he just sort of got knocked over and was now completely on the ground, staring straight up from his spot under Giriko’s feet with wide eyes. Justin was looking at him like he was a stranger. Giriko grit his teeth. That was far more insulting then it had any right being, especially considering he had been putting up with Justin acting like a stranger these past fucking weeks. 

“Stop fucking looking at me like that. I’m taking you home.” Justin blinked and his expression started to morph from unrecognition to pure and simple confusion. He didn’t look scared anymore, and he was starting to look at Giriko like he was Giriko again, so that was a good enough go ahead. Sighing with a heavy annoyance Giriko crouched down to throw Justin over his shoulder.

Justin was light enough that he didn’t even need to throw him all the way over, but he did anyway. It was best to keep Justin’s teeth far away from the sensitive flesh of his face while he was doing this. If the angry grunt Justin made as he got settled on Giriko’s shoulder had anything to say, that was definitely the best choice here. It did make all of this a bit more of a rush though. It was fucking hot out today, and with someone who wore as much clothing as Justin did being held up side down… overheating and passing out from blood rush was just inevitable if they didn’t go fast enough.

He was sure it’d be fine though, especially since Justin wasn’t struggling at all. Which was mostly in part to the fact that a good 45 to 55% of his body was chained up, but also it just seemed like Justin had come to accept the fact that he was in a spot where there wasn’t anything he could do. He trusted Giriko enough to just wait and see where this was going. He didn’t feel any crushing desperate desire to get away from this situation because he trusted that Giriko wasn’t going to hurt him. 

Giriko had to remind himself that wasn’t something he was supposed to be happy about. He had no fucking idea what kind of accomplishment his brain thought ‘being able to tie up your partner and drag them down the street without them fearing for their life’ _ was _, but apparently it thought it was one. He started back to their apartment and ignored Justin’s little annoyed huff. They made it a good bit before the brat finally broke the silence. 

“So, have you finally snapped? What part of your soul is telling you that this is the best way to bring me home?” Justin’s voice sounded so unbelievably strained that Giriko knew that the point of his shoulder must’ve been digging into the scythe’s stomach and making it impossible for him to breathe right. Giriko didn’t make any move to fix it. He was fucking pissed off that they were _ still _in Death City even though Justin had said it wouldn’t take long, he was pissed that it had taken violence to get Justin to stop acting like a holy fucking entity. This was a fitting payback. It wasn’t like Justin couldn’t handle being mistreated anyway.

“The part of my soul that knew you weren’t going to listen and wasn’t willing to take no for an answer.” Giriko pressed the crosswalk button with a normalcy that shouldn’t have come from someone who could very well be committing a crime right now. He honestly wasn’t sure whether it was or not. He had no idea if he could get in trouble for this or not. This was all dubious for sure. Justin seemed to be thinking the exact same thing. 

“What are you expecting to happen here? What do you think is going to happen when word gets back to the academy that people saw you carrying my tied up body?” Justin had been doing an admirable job pretending like this was all nothing more than a boring inconvenience to him, but his frustration and annoyance was starting to shine through. Giriko laughed in a pitious kind of way, patting Justin’s back so condescendingly that he knew the kid’s patience would break with a fury. But to make absolutely sure… 

“I don’t know, you can deal with that later.” Justin really couldn’t do much upside down, wrapped up in unforgiving chains with his arms pinned to his sides, but he still found a way to smack Giriko in the face. It was such a weird, shocking movement that Giriko didn’t have any time to react when he saw Justin’s leg bend back like a whip to slam into his face. The indignant scream he made was the furthest thing from dignified, but as he bent his neck back to lessen the damage of it all he could feel the blood rush wet and hot out of his nose in a spurt of red. The scream was fucking justified, what the hell was that? When did Justin get so weirdly flexible?

“_ Why _ should I have to deal with it? I’m not going to get in trouble for my own kidnapping!” The brat’s voice was really starting to sound worse for the wear, it was clear being upside was taking a toll on him. It didn’t take a genius to know Justin was starting to get exhausted and light headed by the horrible raspy breaths in between each of his words. Screaming was really only going to make it harder for him, it was already obvious he had worn himself out just from kicking while in such an awkward position. Giriko spared a moment of pity for the scythe. He was definitely going to pass out before they made it home. 

“You wouldn’t. But you don’t want them to kill me, do you?” Justin had started to slip down a bit with his struggling and Giriko readjusted him on his shoulder while he wiped the blood off his nose onto the scythe’s back. He could hear the annoying whining sound Justin was making, but he didn’t pay it any mind. Justin should just be glad he didn’t drop him on the ground after that and dragged him the rest of the way home. The kid had nothing to complain about here. 

“You… You're a very hopeful man thinking I’m going to help you after being carried downtown like this.” From the awkward way Justin said that, nothing good was going on in the little bastard’s head. Giriko had been with Justin long enough to know that when Justin started to talk in that weird, almost movie esque way, he was fucking furious. He was copying what he had heard other places before because if he didn’t he’d say something ‘beneath him’. Justin wasn’t even here right now, he was undoubtedly lost within all the angry hatred in his mind and trying to keep it in by reciting whatever memorized phrases he had. 

Getting Justin to this state was a weird kind of victory because it combined the pleasure of winning with the pain of Justin tearing into him a cruel commentary on all of his personal failures. Thankfully the brat wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t hold himself back. Even if he wasn’t though, Justin angrily telling him off would still be a million times better than having to listen to another prayer of good faith. 

“My hopes died the second I decided to come with you, this is just me knowing who you are and knowing you wouldn’t stand for the academy taking your toy away.” The deep shaky breath that came out of Justin was enough to show just how hard he was trying to keep himself calm, but he was also _ shaking _. The brat was so angry he was wracked with tiny tremors that were making him quiver with the force of it all. Giriko was honestly shocked. He stopped for a second, looking over his shoulder as best as he could to look for any indication of what exactly was going on with Justin. He didn’t really find much of an answer beyond ‘livid’. 

Giriko really wasn’t sure what he had done to set Justin off this much, sure he knew it was going to piss the brat off carrying him around like this… but it shouldn’t have made him this mad. Giriko wasn’t sure he had ever seen Justin this mad, or at the very least had never seen Justin try to hold himself back when he was this mad. What the hell was going on? Did he really say something that bad or had he caught Justin when he was already in an awful mood? He was leaning towards the latter. Justin hadn’t seemed upset, but it was more than just impossible to tell when he was holding himself up to that heavenly standard that made no fucking sense to anyone but him. 

Seriously someone needed to snap him out of this, it couldn’t be healthy to hold yourself up to some dumb perfect ideal and be willing to completely breakdown to not slip from it. Justin was having some kind of breakdown right now. He was trying so unbelievably hard to not lose his temper that it seriously felt like he might pop. Which was probably only making it worse for the dumbass, Giriko knew him well enough to know that everytime Justin failed to meet his own ridiculous expectations he would get unbelievably angry and wouldn’t listen to shit until he worked it out. 

It was all really stupid, especially because some of Justin’s expectations for himself were truly impossible, like not having fucking human emotions like anger, and getting people to understand what he was thinking. The last one was kind of sad and Giriko would be lying if he said he hadn’t spared a moment of actual sorrow over the fact that Justin thought the fact that people couldn’t understand him was a personal shortcoming of his. The brat was really such a dumbass thinking he was at fault when people put their fingers in their ears and refused to think about things for longer than 3 seconds.

Giriko _ wanted _to be surprised that the academy had never taken the time to fix this glaring problem in their scythe, but he wasn’t. It made sense that they wouldn’t just ignore Justin’s self destructive behavior, but would probably encourage it. After all, to them all that was happening was getting a devoted and efficient worker bee. They didn’t care that Justin was going fucking insane with all of this. They probably knew the brat was on a timer and when he finally snapped they’d replace him with any number of students that were working to be half the weapon he was. 

Clicking his tongue Giriko started back up towards their apartment. If no one else was going to fix this, he was. He wasn’t going to just sit here and watch Justin drive himself crazy, both because he regrettably cared about the brat but also because he hadn’t come here to help the DWMA, he came to be with Justin. If he was just going to be following around a tin solider spouting off voice lines then there was really wasn’t any fucking point for him to be suffering through this. 

“Giriko…” Justin apparently regained enough of his sanity to speak again, but from how shaky and hoarse his voice sounded, he hadn’t gotten much back. Giriko grunted in acknowledgement, but made no move to actually respond. He wanted to hear what Justin had to say. 

“What are you doing?” It was the exact same question that had started all of this, but it wasn’t asking the same thing as before. Justin wasn’t asking what was happening anymore, he was asking what Giriko was hoping for, what he was trying to get done by dragging the scythe back like this. Giriko hadn’t really wanted to elaborate until they were inside and away from prying eyes and curious ears, but he also knew Justin really deserved some kind of answer here. Also it was just hard to ignore Justin when he used that desperate and exasperated voice.

“I’m giving you a break from acting like Death’s creepy messenger angel.” The apartment block where they had been given a temporary stay was coming into view and Giriko hurried up substantially. Most of the people staying here were with the academy in some way or another and it’d be pretty bad if they were caught like this. Justin made a noise of distress as they picked up speed. Giriko could tell the other was seriously worried about being dropped on his face. 

“I don’t need a break.” Justin’s voice wasn’t very convincing, especially because it was tinged with the increasing fear of eating concrete as Giriko started to run up the stairs. He knew he shouldn’t be running like this, but he was really just being chased by the idea of being caught and forced to explain himself. He honestly wouldn’t know what to say if he was questioned about this. _ ‘This is just how we solve our problems’ _ wouldn’t exactly be wrong, but it definitely wouldn’t go over well. 

Throwing open the door Giriko got Justin off his back and forced him inside first, making sure no one could see the sorry state the scythe was in all tied up, red and sweaty. Justin was glaring something awful, but was also dealing with head rush and was dangerously close to passing out right on their floor. Any kind of threatening look or words were kind of useless considering a light breeze could knock him over. Giriko only shook his head with a soft laugh and shuffled right up against the scythe so he could squeak the door closed behind them.

“Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you really do.” Justin’s eyes narrowed the tiniest bit as he heard the lock clunk under Giriko’s fingers. It was clear that the reminder that he wasn’t going to be leaving anytime soon was whipping his anger back up. Well… It was probably a mixture of that and the fact that they weren’t in public anymore and Justin could be as ‘unsightly’ as he wanted to be without ruining his precious image of perfection. As if anyone would consider that perfect beside him in the first place. 

“I don’t. I have actual work to be doing Giriko, could you please?” The please was conceding in the way a mother would ask her child for her keys back, knowing full well that if the kid didn’t hand them over she’d take them by force. Giriko smiled lopsidedly, leaning over the brat and making him bend backwards to avoid having their faces collide. He knew what power Justin was trying to exercise right now, that sense of authority would surely scare most people off considering they were dealing with a Death Scythe who could surely make them regret disobedience in a number of ways. What Justin needed to realize was that he didn’t have that power right now, he was all wrapped up with nowhere to go and nothing to do. 

“You want to scare everyone Death is trying to help feel welcome? You're seriously being unsettling, starting to seem like you're not really here.” Justin’s glare darkened and a silent threat started to materialize in the air. The staring contest they settled into was toxic, daring each other to make the next move. It was a complete and utter stand still for a bit, but Justin finally relented and ducked out from under Giriko so he could stomp deeper into their apartment. Giriko laughed in a mocking kind of way, more than pleased to see Justin give up and understand there was no way for him to push his way out right now. Sadly, he still didn’t seem to understand was that they were very much tied together.

Justin made it a few steps before he tripped with the sudden tension ripping him backwards. When Giriko graciously caught him and didn’t let him get knocked unconscious from hitting his head against the floor with his full weight, the brat only glared. Giriko snorted in response, did he want to hit the floor? Giriko could do that for him. Letting go he watched Justin look horrified for a second, completely unable to catch himself in his current state. Giriko caught him again by pulling enough of his chain back that Justin stopped centimeters above the floor.

“I don’t think now is the time to be acting all high and mighty, something could happen to you.” Justin’s eyes stayed wide and shocked for a second as he tried to process why he hadn’t gotten brained, but then they settled back into a glare. Giriko wasn’t all that surprised, Justin was nothing if not persistent. Still the smile on his face grew wider with Justin’s poor attempts to hide his vulnerability. The scythe knew as well as him that there was literally nothing he could do to protect himself. He was trapped, Giriko had trapped him here and he really had no choice but to go along.

“You want me to stroke your ego? I would rather give my life than spout such lies to appease your sense of vanity.” Yep. Now that they were in the comfort of a private space Justin wasn’t interested in playing nice anymore. It was fucking funny how predictable the brat was, but at the same time incredibly relieving. Giriko wasn’t sure what he’d do if Justin continued on with being picture perfect mr. professional even when they were alone. He’d probably throw him out the window in all honesty. There was only so much of that shit he could handle. Death City really brought out the worst in Justin. 

“That’s big fucking talk from someone who has committed their life to sucking Death’s cock.” The first time Giriko ever said anything like that to Justin the dumbass had looked like someone just ate a baby in front of him, like he had just witnessed something so incredibly unbelievable and horrible that he couldn’t even process it. However, at this point Justin was more than used to it and only sighed in heavy disappointment, shaking his head like the bastard he was.

“So crude… but if you really want to say such things then at least I never bent over for a witch.” Justin wasn’t looking at him, his eyes were cast off to the side in a way that screamed he wasn’t paying full attention anymore, that he had deemed this conversation below him. Fucking no one else in the world could pull off being ‘too good’ for something while also taking part in it all. The way Justin used demure language to make it seem like he wasn’t just doing the exact same shit Giriko was worked way too well. Sly little bastard had really made an art form out of seeming better than people.

“You’re really acting like you’ve never talked shit before, as if this is your first time dipping into such _ heinous _language. Justin you told me to go fuck myself last week.” Giriko’s voice was sharp and accusatory, his sharp teeth were starting to poke out of his lips in an almost predatory fashion as he stared down at the bastard still hanging awkwardly over the floor. Justin looked unperturbed, remarkably calm for someone in his position. Still, he didn’t stay completely unaffected. Justin rolled his eyes so dramatically at how Giriko empathized ‘heinous’ to mock his overtly polite way of saying normal fucking shit that it looked like his eyes were going to fall out of his head. 

“I did _ not _, I told you if you couldn’t sit still and wait until the end of the meeting then you could go to the bathroom and wear yourself out.” The way Justin said that without hesitation or shame was exactly the reason Giriko loved him so fucking much. There was literally no one else that could be so unapologetically ruthless in their commentary of others. As much as Giriko loathed any mission given by the DWMA, the ones where they were sent out and had to deal with random towns riding their asses about fucking whatever were up there with his favorite thing to do. As soon as Justin didn’t feel contractually obligated to refer to someone with a certain amount of respect, he could say some truly vile things about people. What Giriko wouldn't give to hear Justin talk unfiltered about the other Death Scythes… he couldn’t fucking imagine what Justin would say, he could never imagine what Justin was going to say. The brat’s insults were so out there that there was no predicting it. 

“Yeah that’s much better you little shit.” Giriko’s voice was angry, but also the slightest bit breathless. He was way too excited here, he had really been missing Justin acting like the sharp and cruel person he was. Seriously, he seemed so _ daft _ following instructions letter by letter and speaking in perfectly paced words that would seem completely robotic if not for the weird prayers and awkward spacing out. It was no fucking wonder everyone underestimated him, it was so hard _ not _ to. Justin was so committed to meeting his own dumb standards that required him to only ever talk about work and Lord Death that it was so easy to assume that was all he ever thought about. It was so easy to never realize Justin was thinking _ a lot _ , and a lot about _ them _. 

Justin’s critical eye wasn’t reserved for only himself, not by a long shot. Giriko had gotten hints of it back when they were still on opposing sides, but had assumed it was fueled by the academy with the whole ‘them vs us’ mentality. That wasn’t the case at all. Justin wasn’t looking down on him because he was working for Arachne, he was looking down on him because he was disgusted by how he held himself. Giriko came to that conclusion within the first week of coming back with the brat. 

It was so hard to understand anything about Justin when it came to these things because he made no fucking sense. The brat seemed really humble, and to an extent he was. He knew where most of his personal failings were and tried to correct them, but at the same time he clearly believed he was better than everyone else. Giriko couldn’t for the life of him understand the need to be constantly bettering yourself when you already thought you were the best in the room. He didn’t have to understand it though, he could just have fun watching Justin break down when someone ‘lesser’ dismissed him or rejected him or whatever. He had never realized just _ how _egomaniacal Justin was until the brat had been tasked with explaining why a town had to evacuate to their mayor and got escorted out before he had even said a word.

_ ‘Is he serious!? Lord Death sent me! He’s not even willing to listen to Lord Death’s scythes!? Who the hell does he think he is!? I was so fucking patient with him to! I was perfect! I was perfect and he-! Does he not realize that he’s hurting people? Is he so small minded as to not think for a second that he can do wrongs that have to be fixed? I gave him far more understanding than he deserved! I was doing him a charity trying to talk to him and not just sending people to evacuate! He didn’t deserve my presence and still dared to do that! The utter disrespect of it all!’ _

Giriko hadn’t said anything that night, just watched Justin from their bed with wide eyes and a giant smile. Justin had a hell of a voice on him. It was hard to tell because the brat never yelled but when he got going, when someone finally tipped him over, he had a voice that could make kishins piss themselves in fear. Giriko fucking loved it. There was really nothing better than getting to hear Justin’s thoughts unfiltered. He was so cruel and harsh under everything, judging everyone and assigning them value in his mind.

“Are you going to let me down? My legs are starting to hurt.” Snapping back to attention Giriko looked back at Justin’s predicament. The kid had ended up catching himself as he fell backwards, but in an awkward way where his feet were on the floor but the rest of him was hanging from the chain. The position had to be hard on the brat’s ankles, and probably a good deal of the rest of his legs like he was complaining about. It was surprising he hadn’t complained before now in all honesty. Probably some kind of pride thing. That or he had been lost in this fight too and only just realized how much his feet hurt. That was entirely possible. 

“No, but I’ll let you up, I want you closer anyway.” Giriko let his chain spin rapidly around Justin so he could pull the kid up while also retracting all the excess chain he could so Justin couldn’t wiggle away. It wasn’t until he managed to pick Justin up and get him to wrap his legs securely around his waist that he realized Justin was pinching his eyes closed. He didn’t get a chance to ask what the hell was going on before Justin opened them back up and looked at him with the most annoyingly cute pout.

“Stop moving your chains like that, you’re going to rip me to shreds.” Whatever punched through his chest with that and knocked the wind out of him was really working overtime because for a second he thought he was going to throw up his entire heart. The way he bound Justin had all the ribs facing outward, even at top speed the most it could give him was a rug burn. Really the only way someone could get hurt here was if a random fuck came in and tried to take Justin away from him. Although, even without the chain he wouldn’t hesitate to pulverize anyone who’d try to get that close to Justin. This whole setup was kind of irrelevant to that. Still the fact remained that Justin was scared, despite how haughty he was acting he was worried enough to have brought it up. 

There was a real temptation to lie and to try scaring Justin into being good, but as he moved them past the entryway and into the actual living space he realized he couldn’t do that. Not for any good reason, he just couldn’t let Justin be actually scared of him. Plus, as he sat down on the floor with a tired groan and kept Justin perched on his lap he realized this felt pretty nice. It was nice having Justin wrapped up nice and tight in his chain, safe and unable to move. Giriko had never been wielded before, and while this most certainly wasn’t the same thing there was something about another person making contact with his weapon form that was exciting. Not even in a thrill of a fight kind of way, it just made him feel… whole. He didn’t want to ruin any chance of this happening again.

“I’m not going to tear you up, what would even make you worth hanging around if not your pretty figure?” Justin seemed less than pleased with that answer, but nevertheless relaxed at the promise of safety. He trusted Giriko. He trusted he was safe. The same feeling from when this had all started flickered up again in Giriko’s soul and he subconsciously pulled his chains even tighter. Justin was here, he could feel every inch of Justin’s skin under his metal, every pulse of the scythe’s heart. A soft reminder tickled at the back of his mind, telling him that this wouldn’t last, that this moment would end. Giriko was surprised at how unwilling he was to accept that. 

He was surprised how much his mind was sticking on the word _ safe _. He hadn’t even realized before now that this didn’t just make Justin easier to deal with, it made it close to impossible for anyone else to touch him, to hurt him. Like this there would be no getting to Justin without going through him first, no way for things to end before he even processed shit was going wrong. Like this no one could cut his time with Justin short. He wanted to keep Justin here forever. 

Which was ridiculous. It was unreasonable. It was something he would never ever want to do in a million years because dear lord living with Justin tied to him would be a literal nightmare. Still, the desire was there. The idea of never having to worry about Justin slipping through his fingers and disappearing in the blink of an eye was intoxicating. Having that worry completely wiped from his mind, even for this short moment, was making him tired in the best possible way. Like all his worries were at ease and he could finally fucking rest. It was only icing on the cake that he had gotten Justin back to his elitist attitude with all of this. Sighing he leaned back onto the wall, very much enjoying the fleeting feeling of everything being right in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, bear with me here, I feel like Giriko had a lot of pride as a guardian (he was one for 800 years) and it was just crushed when Arachne died. So I feel like he'd subconsciously be very set on it not happening again and a little bit weird about it at times. (Justin has his own problems with his past affecting how he treats Giriko but thats in Gabriellll so wait for me to finish that)
> 
> Also the drop off is kind of weird with Justin not saying anything even though he 100% would, I just needed it to end bc it had been going on long enough lmao.


End file.
